Monday, March 5, 2012

Week ending March 4: Ed Griffin and the Cottonwood Trail

Mon 2/27 3 miles The start of a busy week: I have evening gigs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, some of my own doing and some work related. This is also the start of an easy week of running.

Ed Griffin died today. Ed was at least partly responsible for the Cottonwood Trail, now a system of about 5 miles on two sides of the Lawson’s Fork Creek. Ed was a humble, quiet man, whose vision of a more beautiful world resulted in a legacy of an urban trail system that includes several different habitats and hundreds of plant species. I’ll miss Ed’s smile, his joy about the world around him, and his intense stubborn-ness in the face of invasive species. I’ll continue to run most days on the Ed Griffin Preserve.

One of my sacred places: Cottonwood Trail.
Ed Griffin lives on.

Tue 2/28 2 1/2 miles Remember that easy week I mentioned? My body must have been listening: today’s was the worst run of the 51 straight. I felt heavy legged, and my calves were like rocks.

Wed 2/29 4 miles on Cottonwood.Meh. Still not quite right.

February totals: 176.5 miles in 29 runs

Thu 3/1 4 miles, including 2 miles barefoot. I was feeling a little gun-shy about running today, afraid I would still feel so bad. Today was the first day of the week I felt normal.

Fri 3/2 5 miles on Cottonwood

Sat 3/3 5 1/2 miles on Cottonwood

Sun 3/4 4 miles, including 2 miles barefoot

Total: 27 miles in seven runs

Not a very good week, but one I planned for. Nothing felt easy, my motivation to push out the door was not quite there, I had no spring at all. It’s telling that this is the eighth week of every day running, and the increased mileage seems to require a down week every fourth week. Knowing this will help with a training plan, and I’ll just build in the rest.

Despite the down week, I feel good about my training. I feel like I’m in good shape to continue building mileage for the Highlands Sky 40 in June, and then another rest period through the heat of the summer.

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